Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 223

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 15.

-Good evening. The Fireworks Festival will begin in 10 minutes. First, the fireworks from the Hungarian team…

Crackle.
The black screen flickered as a poorly-quality broadcast audio crackled through.
Then,

[Bora: We’re good.]

The screen switched, and Ryu Bora’s face filled the entire display.

[Bora: Everyone, say hello.]
[Yun Chung: One, two, three.]
[All together: Hello, Forever Blue, we are StillBlue.]

Ryu Bora, Yun Chung, and Kim Geum greeted in small but bright voices while wearing masks.

[Yun Chung: We apologize, EVEL. We can’t speak very loudly right now.]
[Geum: We’re at Han River Park right now. I wonder if our EVELs are at Han River Park too~?]
[Bora: We came to watch the Fireworks Festival.]
[Yun Chung: It starts in 10 minutes, they said.]
[Yun Chung: This is actually my first time coming to see the Fireworks Festival in person, but these two have been before.]
[Geum: That’s right. Bora and I have come together before.]
[Bora: Even though you couldn’t remember it until just now.]
[Geum: Bora, you really hold grudges. Show some restraint.]

Caption: The cat-rabbit duo bickering diligently as always…

[Yun Chung: You’re probably wondering why it’s just the three of us. Today we split into groups of two and three to enjoy the festival.]
[Yun Chung: I’m guessing Ju-hong is holding the camcorder over there?]
[Geum: Definitely.]
[Bora: I’m the one who gave her the camcorder.]

Caption: Ryu Bora, starving for praise

[Yun Chung: Huh? It’s starting.]
[Bora: Geum. Look over there.]
[Geum: Wow. No way. It’s really happening.]

Caption: StillBlue frantically pans the camcorder
Caption: StillBlue’s desire to show this beautiful sight to EVEL

[Yun Chung: Beautiful.]
[Bora: Can you see it, EVEL? I’m worried the camcorder is so old that it might not show up well.]
[Geum: It’s fine. The kind eyes of EVEL will see it.]

Caption: If Geum says so, then it’s so

[Bora: Three teams are showcasing fireworks today. Hungary, the United States, and South Korea.]
[Yun Chung: They say South Korea’s will be the most spectacular. That’s why we’re planning to watch until the end.]
[Geum: But aren’t fireworks all the same? What’s different?]
[Bora: You’ll see when you watch.]

Caption: Bora seems a bit curt today… could it be?

[Geum: She’s upset with me today because I don’t remember playing together back then. Seriously.]
[Geum: What’s really unfair about this, EVEL, is that she forgets a lot of things we did together too.]
[Yun Chung: Geum needs to understand this.]
[Geum: Why?]
[Yun Chung: Because the extremely homebody Ryu Bora planned this outing.]
[Yun Chung: Solely for Kim Geum’s sake.]
[Geum: (silence)]

Caption: Geum is taken aback
Caption: Geum, did you finally realize Bora’s feelings~?

[Bora: Just watch the fireworks. Don’t look at me.]
[Geum: Hey, you should’ve said something.]
[Bora: I did say something. You just didn’t listen.]

Caption: But you guys… when are you going to show your faces?
Caption: It’s not like a live broadcast of the Fireworks Festival or anything—just showing the fireworks

[Adjusting video…]

[Geum: Ta-da.]
[Yun Chung: We ordered tteokbokki.]
[Geum: The spicy, eccentric flavor. You all know what kind of tteokbokki this is, right?]

Caption: Mouths watering
Caption: StillBlue officially tormenting EVEL

[Geum: We took a break to watch the fireworks, and since we were hungry, we ordered tteokbokki.]
[Bora: Everyone, don’t order it here… please bring it packed from home instead….]
[Yun Chung: This isn’t a human crowd, seriously. I thought I was going to be crushed to death.]

With that, I dipped a piece of tteokbokki and fed one bite to Kim Geum’s mouth, then another to Ryu Bora’s.

Caption: Mother bird Chung-chung
Caption: Baby bird(?) Kim Geum, baby bird(?) Ryu Bora

[Geum: This is seriously delicious. Absolutely insane.]
[Yun Chung: It tastes even better after so long.]
[Geum: Actually, I suggested we get the mala rose flavor. But Ryu Bora insisted on the basic flavor. She’s surprisingly stubborn about things like this.]
[Bora: That was an unavoidable choice to stay true to today’s outing’s purpose.]
[Geum: Today’s outing had a purpose? I thought it was just healing while watching the fireworks, something like that?]
[Bora: Well, there’s that too.]

Caption: Bora seems to have plenty to say but isn’t saying it
Caption: Just shoving a bunch of tteokbokki into Kim Geum’s mouth

[Geum: Why are you doing this all of a sudden?!]

***

“Wow. Completely stuffed.”

After finishing an entire set of tteokbokki, I rubbed my distended belly.
It had been a long time since I’d eaten something so unhealthy until my stomach felt ready to burst.
Of course, it was partly because I’d been controlling my diet before the recent concert, but ever since my sudden sensorineural hearing loss manifested, I’d refrained from eating anything too stimulating, worried it might make things worse.
And truthfully, it wasn’t just me who’d restricted my diet.
Ever since I fell ill, the members had tacitly agreed to eat only the same restrained meals as me.
Because a group shares pain together, and we were StillBlue.

“Ju-hong will be upset if she finds out we ate this without her.”
“Then we’ll keep it a secret.”

At Yun Chung’s words, Kim Geum’s eyes widened as if to say that hardly counted as a reason.
‘Haven’t you heard the saying that frost falls even in June if Yeon Ju-hong holds a grudge, Chung-chung?’ she said pointedly.
Then.

“The South Korean team is starting.”
“Oh.”

At the announcement of the South Korean team’s fireworks display—the most magnificent and grandest of the three nations scheduled for today—even the three members who had remained relatively composed straightened their posture.

Whoooosh—! Bang! Pow pow! Boom!

“Wow.”

From the very first burst, the sound and scale of the fireworks far exceeded what came before, and all the members gazed upward in wonder.
In that moment.

‘Hey, Ryu Bora.’

Kim Geum felt a memory blooming through those bursts of light.

‘What.’
‘That’s nothing. I’m going to perform on a stage with even bigger fireworks than that!’

Young Kim Geum.
After bickering with the small, glossy-haired Ryu Bora, when Ryu Bora ignored her and gazed endlessly at the fireworks, Kim Geum had spat out those words in a fit of pique.
Now it came back to her.

‘You?’
‘Yeah, me!’
‘Doesn’t seem likely.’
‘What did you say?!’
‘I’ll make it, but you won’t.’

Ryu Bora skillfully scratched at Kim Geum’s heart, then smiled faintly as she turned her gaze back to the fireworks.
To a child’s eyes, the fireworks adorning the sky so grandly appeared far more immense than they did to adults.
A stage that produced fireworks even larger than these.
Could such a thing even exist?

‘Wow, but it’s really loud.’

Kim Geum said, covering her ears.

‘Geum, Bora. If it gets too loud, just do this—press like this.’

Then, Kim Geum’s Mother took the hands of both Kim Geum and Ryu Bora, guiding them to cover each other’s ears.

‘!’
‘Press gently so you don’t hurt each other’s ears.’
‘Mom!’

Kim Geum pouted at her mother’s antics.

‘Why would you do that? I can just cover my own ears!’
‘When you cover your friend’s ears like this and watch together, it feels even better.’
‘No! That’s not better!’
‘Goodness. I don’t know who you take after to be so stubborn. You’ll understand when you grow up.’

Kim Geum’s Mother pinched her daughter’s cheek gently as she spoke.

‘Protecting each other like this—that’s what makes it better.’
‘Why?!’
‘Even if you can’t hear, as long as you’re together, it’s okay.’
‘…? What are you talking about? If we both can’t hear, what’s okay about that?’
‘I wonder who you take after to be so emotionally barren.’

In that moment, Kim Geum saw not the fireworks embroidering the sky, but Ryu Bora’s face filling her entire vision.
And, from across more than a decade of time.

“!”

Kim Geum gently pressed her hand over Ryu Bora’s ear.

“What?”
“Yeah. I don’t need to cover my ears anymore, but you do. You know, what’s it called… artist protection or something? Right. Our StillBlue’s ears are precious. That kind of thing.”
“What are you talking about? It’s not me who needs to be especially careful with hearing—it’s you.”

Ryu Bora gently pushed Kim Geum aside while simultaneously covering her ears as well.
Then she said something.
Because her ears were covered, I couldn’t hear the sound, but the shape of Ryu Bora’s lips made her words unmistakable.

‘You don’t need to hear it.’

Ryu Bora said that and added:

‘I’m here.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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